It's got disturbing parts, sure, but I don't think it's gratuitous or forced. It's not like such scenes happen every other page, and Miura isn't doing it just for shock value. The point is to show how monstrous the forces Guts faces everyday are.

If you want to read some really nasty shit, check out some of the ancient classics. The stuff you'll find there. Oh boy.

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"There are no pacts between men and lions. Wolves and lambs cannot enjoy a meeting of the minds." ~ Achilles, the Iliad of Homer

lol -4 karma? I thought this would be a cool community to talk about one of my favorite series with, not a bunch of touchy spergs. Peace out.

You made so little effort to create this thread, that it required someone to ask its meaning in the first reply, and you complain about people not wanting to talk to you? I'm pretty sure that you'd be upvoted if you posted some real examples, and actually tried to make a point.

Hmm, this is just me, but I find the eclipse to be by far the most violent part of the series, there were some pretty disturbing scenes in other arcs for sure, but nothing can compare to that.So not really, no.

It's not like Miura is gradually increasing in violence with each new apostle or villain or monster that Guts is facing, the culminating point in the story so far always was the eclipse.And if the eclipse remains the most violent part despite all that Guts went through before and mostly after, for me it means Miura knows how to gauge the amount of violence he puts into every battle.

So if none are outdoing the eclipse (which is the most traumatizing event out of them all for Guts) then for me it's not too much.

So if none are outdoing the eclipse (which is the most traumatizing event out of them all for Guts) then for me it's not too much.

Berserk torture rooms are always fun to read through. Volume 18, p. 171, a nice shot of a boob being pulled apart by the breast ripper, and then some poor individual who had the Pear of Anguish inserted inside them http://imgur.com/swApkXR

A thread with a good deal of potential spoiled by an impatient OP. The karma would have recovered quickly as long as everyone kept the discussion civil without resorting to insults.

Rereading, I always felt that the troll scenes didn't need to be so rape-y. In the context of the storyline it all fits together well enough to not seem fully gratuitous. But i'm sure there was potential to approach it in a less explicit manner. Maybe my feelings towards the scenes have been soured by how often it's brought up by the "violence and rape" side of the fanbase as the pinnicle of the series.

Well to part in Albion when it's time for the imitation of the eclipse is pretty violent casualty-wise vs the eclipse. Of course you don't have a rape scene in that part but still a lot of peopled died in a not so nice way. but I never found it to be too much. Like others have said the violence in the series is well place. I imagine myself in that world and it is realistic enough to get me scared.

You made so little effort to create this thread, that it required someone to ask its meaning in the first reply, and you complain about people not wanting to talk to you? I'm pretty sure that you'd be upvoted if you posted some real examples, and actually tried to make a point.

It's not about internet points. I just take issue with the fact people downvote over a completely innocuous question with slang in the thread title. If you guys want deep academic discussion about Berserk's themes, start a thread, I'm not shy, I've got a lot to say.

I'll swallow my pride and keep posting here 'cuz it's not like it's a bad place at all. And Berserk communities are few and far in between.

THAT said, Berserk is one of the few works I know where the depiction of evil in its most horrific and depraved forms is not gratuitous at all.

I like that, actually. Miura isn't scared to show that people are fucked up, and what's more, there is someone who is fighting against it tooth and nail. It's why I love Guts as a character. He's got a whole world of evil on his shoulders. It's some real shit.

I'll say though, that orgy of violence that preceded Griffith's rebirth was really something. Just the idea that all that horrific, unimaginable pain and suffering that went into incarnating this angelic figure is such a trip. I love Berserk.

Just the idea that all that horrific, unimaginable pain and suffering that went into incarnating this angelic figure is such a trip.

That's indeed a crucial element of Femto's incarnation that so-called "Griffith apologists" conveniently skip over when discussing his motives. The man who caused thousands to be massacred so that he could step foot in the world again -- why, of course, it's the savior that humanity was waiting for!

Berserk torture rooms are always fun to read through. Volume 18, p. 171, a nice shot of a boob being pulled apart by the breast ripper, and then some poor individual who had the Pear of Anguish inserted inside them http://imgur.com/swApkXR

No thank you!

I agree, this was one of the disturbing scenes I mentioned, but still, since we're following Guts' story and the eclipse was way more heart-wrenching on top of the violence (because we knew the characters who were sacrificed, Casca's rape was hard to bear with and same for Guts' desperation) I still think the eclipse doesn't have a real equivalent so far, even if other arcs do have their share of disturbing moments.

I feel that the violence in Berserk is appropriate for the circumstances. While it has been disturbing at times, it needed to be for those parts of the story. As for the rape in the troll den, it made the situation just that much more horrifying and made me respect Farnese even more for having the courage to hold her ground and protect Casca, not cave under the sheer terror of it all. You go girl!

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A good sword, even if it rusts and dulls, has good steel that never rusts left over in the wick. That steel's the ultimate steel. Even if it cracks, if you return it to the fire, it's sure to be reborn. - Godot

Making the Daka grossed me out worse than the trolls' nasty reproduction. Not least because then it turned out that the Daka were next to useless. I guess the whole thing was really just Ganishka's or the GH's excuse to have the apostle bag made so that Ganishka could break the world with it later.

Making the Daka grossed me out worse than the trolls' nasty reproduction. Not least because then it turned out that the Daka were next to useless.

Well the Daka and Pishacha would have been useful (devastating in fact) against a normal human army. But they were hindered by Guts & friends in Vritannis, and then apostles came along and ravaged them. I think it makes sense: Ganishka was trying to create a "demon army", and he did. But Griffith's own demon soldiers were far superior, in the same way that he himself was to Ganishka.

It's worth pointing out that creating that demon army had most certainly taken years and years to Ganishka and Daiba. Only the latest batch was made in Wyndham. And those troops probably served them well in previous conflicts. But here they were faced against an undefeatable opponent.